Hide and Seek
by RWT
Summary: Fuuin Slight ReixSophia Rei is too proud and refused to accept Sophia's gift. He said he'd trade for it with anything Sophia likes. So now he's doing his end of the bargain by... playing a game? Launching Rei into annoyed rant mode!


**RWT: **Hmm…

**Lee: **Disclaimer?

**RWT: **If it wasn't even obvious… I don't own Fire Emblem 6.

-

"WHAT!"

Bartre's eyes went huge. "My daughter with… with…" He didn't finish as he dashed off towards the direction of the river with his ax brandished. "Fear not my daughter! Daddy's coming!"

Fa watched as the axe man ran off in extraordinary speed. "He's strange." She commented.

The little dragon-girl was just waiting for her playmate when a worried Bartre appeared. He was apparently looking for his daughter, Fir. Fa then told him that she saw her and Noah near the river. Fa was about to say that they were just walking and talking together, but when Bartre heard she was with a man; he quickly switched to overprotective daddy-mode and dashed off before Fa could say anything else.

"Fa," A voice called out.

Fa's face brightened as she ran towards the direction of the voice. "Sophia!"

The druid with long flowing purple hair smiled as the mamkute rushed over to her. "So… What do you want to… play, Fa?"

"Fa wants to be play hide and seek!" She answered happily. "Fa wants to hide first!"

Sophia nodded. "…Very well." She said as she went over to the nearest tree.

"No peeking!" She heard her friend say before she closed her eyes.

"One, two, three…" She started.

Little Fa quickly ran around the area, looking for a hiding place. It took a little while before she decided to climb up a tall tree that wasn't really far from Sophia.

Sophia was still counting. "Thirty-five, thirty-six…" She then sensed someone's presence but she felt that it wasn't an enemy so she didn't run off.

"Hey!" A voice from behind called out.

It was Rei's voice, Lugh's brother, but thinking that he was calling someone else, she continued counting. "…Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-ni-"

_What? Does she have an ear problem or something? _

"Hey! I'm talking to you, Sophia!" Rei rang out a bit impatiently.

The female druid snapped her eyes open and turned around. "Y-Yes…?" She said as the male druid walked towards her.

"I came to give it back."

"Give... What back?"

"Here," Rei said as he took a book out of his cloak and shoved it to Sophia's hands. "I told you I'm not a beggar. I don't want things to be given to me."

Sophia looked at the book. It was the dark magic book- Dark Arts of Old Arcadia II- she placed it Rei's tent as a gift a week ago. He was eyeing the book for many days earlier before Sophia decided to drop it in his tent without him knowing.

"But… I wanted to… give it to you."

Rei shook his head. "No, I said don't want charity." He replied stubbornly.

Sophia gently shoved the book back to Rei's hands. "It's alright… You can have it… Since you're-"

Rei gritted his teeth as he cut her off. Despite the fact that he really is kind, he doesn't want people to call him as such; so he acts like a jerk…with a not so hidden heart of gold. "I said, "No"! I am not accepting this." He replied quite adamantly as he shoved it back to his hands, crossed his arms and turned his back at her.

"Y-You're really giving it back…?"

Rei sighed exasperatedly. "What did I just say?"

Sophia was saddened by this and looked at the ground. She knew Rei's character quite well. She knew that he really has a good heart and he's just hiding it.

It was obvious Rei wanted the book but he was too proud and cocky to accept it.

Fa was watching from above. "He's also strange." She commented softly. "Fa knows Fa saw him accept the other book from Sophia last time. Fa thinks that's when Sophia and Rei became friends." She said as she tilted her head at the thought. "Or… that could just be when they learned each other's names…"

Actually he was planning to give that one- Dark Arts of Old Arcadia I –back as well but it doesn't seem to be with him today. Sophia gave him that one some weeks ago. Even if they've met before that, it was only then did they know each other's names. Volume 1 was also a gift but if anyone mentions anything about it he'll defensively say that he just borrowed it and will return it after he finishes it.

But he finished the book not more than a few weeks ago… And after that, he seems to get along with Sophia like… well he gets along with her a little better than most of the other people in the camp (Which is actually an achievement, due to his cynical exterior). Save for his brother of course.

She really wanted him to have this book too. "But… It's also a gift…" She said sadly.

Rei's face softened as he slowly turns to face her. He didn't mean to make her that disappointed. "Well… I thank you for the offer but don't you need it too? I mean you can't just keep giving these kinds of things away. What will you fight with?"

Sophia has to agree that he has a point. "I… I suppose… But… Lugh told me that you… read more than half of it already…"

Rei stiffened. "Uh…" _That brother of mine…! _

Sophia looked at the book and at Rei. "Rei… Don't you… want it?"

Rei's eyes were wandering around anxiously.

_Yeah, I pretty much love the book but Lugh shouldn't have told her that! Ugh… Seriously, I'll probably never get to read such a book but I don't like charity and people will get ideas and… _

Sophia continued to stare at him with sad and pleading eyes.

"Er… Well fine then!" Rei snapped all of the sudden.

"H-Huh?"

With a frown, he took the black book from the half-mamkute's arms.

Sophia's face lit up. "Y-You're taking it? …Like the other one?"

Rei shook his head violently. "N-No!" He quickly replied. "But I am going to trade for this."

"W-What?"

"You heard me. I said I'm going to trade for it."

"Rei… You really don't have to-"

Rei shook his head again. "No, I'm not taking this for free." He said determinedly as he looked at the book. "This is something I really wanted. So in return, what do you want?"

"I-It's okay… You -"

"Didn't you hear me? I insist. Now, what do you want?"

"Rei-"

"I have an idea!!!" A voice suddenly rang from above.

"OOF!"

"Fa?" Sophia said in surprise when the mamkute suddenly dropped from the tree and landed on the druid's back, causing him to fall over.

"He can play with us!" Fa suggested happily.

Rei reared up angrily. "Get off me, you little pipsqueak!" Rei roared as Fa quickly got away from him. He quickly picked himself up and glared at her. "I'm trading the book for what she wants. Not yours!"

Fa pouted. "Aww, but more players mean more fun!"

Rei clenched his teeth in irritation. "I told you I-"

"That's what I want."

Rei stopped his sentence short and whipped around to Sophia. "What?" He asked incredulously.

"… That is what I want. Let's play with Fa, Rei…"

Rei continued to look at Sophia disbelievingly. "Seriously? That's… That's too childish! I'm giving you an opportunity to have whatever you want as exchange for the book and you're telling me that you want me to play ridiculously games with this brat?"

Fa frowned at this. "Hey!"

Sophia also frowned at him. "…don't call her that." She said quite strongly.

Rei backed off in surprise. He never seen Sophia show such emotion before. "But…"

"It's… what I want…"

Rei tried to protest but ended up sighing in defeat instead. "Agh… Oh fine then."

Fa's frown was suddenly replaced by a bright smile. "Yay! Another player!" She said as she ran around happily.

Rei shot a glare at the kid. "I'm not doing this for you…" He muttered inaudibly.

"Thank you… Rei."

Rei turned to her. "It's…" And saw her frown gone and swapped with a warm smile. His annoyance faded.

"…Nothing…"

**-Little later-**

"There you are."

"Ah!" Fa said in surprise when the druid found her.

Rei placed his hands on his waist. "C'mon, I found you now get down from there." He ordered her.

"Aw, so fast." Fa said as she quickly climbed down the tree.

"Hmph, I figured you were going to try and hide on a tree again." He said without much interest as he scanned the area for Sophia. He then turned to Fa. "Hey brat-"

"Fa's not a brat!"

"Yeah, whatever. Where's Sophia?"

Fa puffed out her cheeks in anger. "Fa does not know, and telling you will be against the rules!"

Rei rolled his eyes. He pretty much wanted to finish this childish game. "Fine, I'll look for her myself." He said as he trudged towards the river.

"Fa wants to come with-"

"Fa!" A voice called out.

Rei ignored it and went on but Fa turned around and saw Igrene.

"Fa, Master Roy wishes to speak to you." The sniper called out.

"But Fa's playing hide-and-seek!" She protested.

The sniper crossed her arms. "Fa, what did you promise Master Roy?"

"Fa has to follow him… even if his orders are no fun." She sulked as she walked over to Igrene.

Rei just continued his search for the female druid. Unbeknownst to him, Sophia was just nearby. Near the forest, there was a cliff. Sophia was hiding in a very big bush near the edge of that cliff. While hiding behind the bush and enjoying the breeze, she was also looking at some flowers that she had picked on the way there. Their bright colors seemed to have caught her interest.

_Gah, where is she? Ugh… This game is really wasting my time. _Rei thought as he walked towards the river. There he saw Clarine, Bartre and Rutgar. Clarine was tending to Bartre's injury, a seemingly large lump on his head.

"Why were you running towards here anyway?" Clarine asked as Bartre was bathed with her healing staff's warm light.

Bartre heaved a tired sighed. "I was just making sure of my daughter's safety." He answered. "By the way, wasn't she supposed to be here?"

"…They were walking near the camp." Rutgar, the myrmidon replied simply. The camp was a little south of the river.

"What? He's still with her?"

Rei decided that he might just want to check the trees again and see if Sophia hid up there too.

"Don't worry, Fir! Father's coming!"

"H-Hey! I'm not finished!"

He peered hard and long at the treetops. There were a lot of trees, but finding a purple haired druid on one isn't very hard. "C'mon, where are you?" Rei called out as he kept his eyes on the treetops.

His neck was getting sore. "Where is she?" He said as he rubbed his aching neck. "Maybe she just ducked out somewhere."

"Calm down, boy!"

"Soph- Whoa!"

Rei cut his sentence short when an arrow suddenly whizzed past above his head. He quickly took out his Flux tome. "Who goes there?" He called out angrily. He was pretty mad at this point since he still hasn't found Sophia, his patience is running thin, his neck is sore, and he nearly got killed there.

"S-Sorry!" A familiar voice called out.

_Wolt?_

The green haired archer came into view. He was strangely on a horse. "Sorry, but I was practicing how to shoot from horseback but the horse suddenly got scared by something and reared up when I was about to shoot. Are you okay, Rei?" He asked.

Rei glared at him. "Okay? You nearly killed me!" He retorted as he put his tome away. "Why are you practicing shooting from horseback anyway? Did you get tired fighting on foot?"

Wolt gave a low bow. "Sorry about that, but I was practicing since Lady Sue told me that it's more advantageous shooting from a horse since I have better movement and speed, but it doesn't seem to be working for me."

_Sue that Sacaen girl, huh? _

Rei crossed his arms. "That's not really a good idea, you know. Actually it's pretty dumb changing your style of fighting in the middle of a war."

Wolt lifted his head. "Well you may be right. I can't really know unless I try it. Plus if it'll help me protect Master Roy better, I'll go for it." He said as he started to leave. "I'm sorry about the arrow, but I'm getting back to practice. I'll make up for it someday."

Rei watched as the archer left. "Do what you want." He muttered before deciding to check the many shrubs and bushes while continue to mutter how childish this game is.

"Sophia!" He called out every now and then.

_Seriously, she could've asked for another thing. If it were possibly, I would've toasted the mamkute for putting me in this situation. _

Of course, it isn't possible. Fa can, and will transform to a dragon if Rei attacks her so he can pretty much not extract a revenge on her unless he wants to meet St. Elimine young.

Rei cursed at the fact that he can't hurt Fa as he walked towards the cliff.

Sophia was still looking at the flowers with much interest. She then felt someone near. _Rei? _She thought as she decided to take a peek.

Sure enough, it was Rei. Sophia smiled a bit.

_I suppose I should show myself and make things easier for him. _

The flowers in her hand, Sophia stood up. "Rei…"

Rei turned when he heard her. "There you are." He said with much exhaustion as he walked up to her.

Sophia watched as he started to walk up to her. But as she stood there, the old rock she was standing on was crumbling. Sophia can sense people; and can see the future though a bit vaguely, but she cannot sense this. It already started to give way when she first sat there. It wasn't that she was heavy, Sophia is quite thin, but it's just that the rock is very old.

Rei launched to annoyed banter mode. "Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to find you?" He started.

Sophia's smile faded as she listened to Rei's rant. She was hoping that he had fun, but apparently he had not. He was too busy cursing the mamkute to even think about enjoying the game.

Rei was still walking towards her as he continued his rant. "…You could've asked for something else but-" His sentence was cut short when he heard the loud crumbling of rocks.

A split second later, the rock totally collapsed.

"AAH!"

"SOPHIA!" Rei cried out when his friend suddenly slipped and fell.

Rei made a dive and managed to grab her hand. "Give me your other hand!" He called out to her, not frazzled by how long it looks like to reach the bottom.

Sophia looked at her hand- the one that was holding the flowers.

"What are you doing? C'mon already!"

She let them go and grabbed on to Rei's hand.

**-After some minutes-**

"I… apologize…"

Rei looked at her as they walked. They were heading back to camp. "It was a close call. You really should've checked."

"I'm… sorry." She said sadly.

He caught her sad tone and decided to quit reprimanding her. "Well at least you're okay. It was lucky for you that I was there in time." He said with hidden concern.

Sophia nodded in agreement as they kept walking. "Thank you…"

"It's nothing…" He muttered when something caught his eye. They were flowers, the same kind that Sophia had to let go so Rei could rescue her on the cliff a while ago.

Without a word, he walked over to them.

"Rei?"

He kneeled down and plucked out a small lot of them. Sophia looked at him curiously, not knowing what he's doing. After getting the flowers, Rei got up and quickly got back to her.

He turned away uneasily. "H-Here," He said a bit embarrassingly as he offered her the flowers. "These were the same kinds you had to drop before, right?"

Sophia looked at the flowers in surprise. True, they were the same kinds. "Rei…"

"Well do you w-want them or not?"

Sophia's lips broke out a smile. "T-Thank you…" She said as she took them and took a whiff of their fragrance.

Seeing her happy, Rei couldn't help but smile as well, though it was bit more of a smirk. "It's nothing."

They then continued to walk back to the camp, side by side; ignoring the hollers of an overprotective father.

**RWT: **Gah… Sophia was hard! Ugh… Review please!


End file.
